The Marauders' Tales: Year 1
by fufulupin
Summary: New at this...okay, basically just a story about the original Marauders in their first year at Hogwarts...please R/R!
1. The Meeting

The Marauders Tale: Year 1  
  
Disclaimer: This stuff all belongs the J.K. Rowling and I'm just playing with her characters and storyline. No sueing, please, but I'd like some reviews.  
  
A long lanky boy stood, nearly trembling in anticipation, outside the Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross. Tall, though only eleven, his inky hair cascaded under his wire-rimmed glasses into his hazel eyes as he eagerly watched the brick wall opposite him.  
  
Seeing no one around, he began to run toward the wall, pushing a heavy trunk with all of his might. One of the closest guards glanced at him for a moment, as though wondering exactly what a young boy could be doing racing toward a solid wall, then decided he didn't really want to know and looked away, eyes falling instead upon a small group of men with suspiciously bulging overcoats.  
  
Had he continued to watch the boy with the trunk, the guard would've seen something to confuse him magnificently. Instead of stopping just before he ran smack into the wall, the dark-haired boy slid through it. He came out unscathed on the other side, eyes wide as if he could not believe what he had just accomplished.  
  
Looking around, he eyed the mass of people around him. There were over a hundred groups and families and nearly all the children were pushing trolleys much like his own. He smiled as a young woman with wavy blonde hair rushed past him, chasing a ginger cat and yelling, "Sweetie, come back! We're going to be late!"  
  
The smiled faded as someone slammed into him from behind, knocking him off his feet so that he landed in a heap on the concrete.  
  
The boy looked up, rubbing his elbow. A young man about his age stood over him, midnight-black hair falling into his blue eyes. The other boy's mouth was stretched into something oddly like a smirk, though he was clearly embarrassed about running into another person.  
  
He reached down, saying quickly, "Sorry `bout that, mate. I couldn't see where I was going, it's only my first year. I'm Sirius Black."  
  
Brushing at the knees of his jeans, the first boy smiled grimly. "It's okay. I probably should've moved further away from the gate." He extended a scraped hand, offering, "James Potter," as the new boy accepted the greeting with a firm handshake and a nod.  
  
Sirius glanced toward the scarlet train taking up most of the platform as it gave a strangely owl-like whistle. He jerked his head toward it as James slowly set his trolley upright and asked, "So, on the train then?"  
  
James shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I've never done this before either."  
  
The two sprinted toward one of the doors and slipped into a nearly empty compartment where they stowed their trunks away and nervously took their seats across from one another. James found himself sitting next to the only other occupant of the compartment, a young man with light brown hair and a serious face. The boy's face was buried in a thick book and he didn't look up.  
  
Sirius stretched in his seat and looked out the window. "Where's your folks, then?" he asked and James jumped.  
  
"They're...busy," he muttered, the reason for his nerves returning to him. "Dad had to be at the Ministry and Mum was off with my little sister..."  
  
Sirius gave an evil grin. "You've got a sister? Tough luck, mate. My family's a nightmare, but at least I'm an only child." He chuckled as though James' predicament was a source of great amusement for him.  
  
James kept his eyes down, not certain why Sirius seemed to already be so comfortable with him. His stomach gave an interesting lurch as the train gave another loud hoot and began to roll out of the station. Out the window, he could see people waving cheerily to their children and younger kids giving large sighs at not being sent off to school.  
  
Only now that the train was moving did the sandy haired boy look up from his book. He noticed for the first time that he had company and set the text aside, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to inspect the other two without staring rudely.  
  
Sirius saved him the trouble of making the first move by reaching over an cheerfully punching the young man's arm. "Are you new too, then?" he asked, grinning as though without a care in the world.  
  
The quiet boy frowned and rubbed his newly bruised arm. "Yeah," he replied in a soft voice. "First year."  
  
"What's your name?" Sirius prompted and the boy winced, clearly expecting another sock on the arm.  
  
"Lupin," he muttered. "Remus Lupin." His hand crept toward his book again, but Sirius seemed bent on making friends and he slapped the thick volume away.  
  
He leaned forward, still giving that devil-may-care grin. "So. Do you guys like pranks?"  
  
James' ears pricked up. Back in his younger years, when he'd been only five or six, his dad had filled him with stories of his own days at Hogwarts, the school James and the others were even now riding towards. The man had evidently been quite the trouble-maker, always fooling around with his best friends and wreaking havoc all over the castle. Ever since then, James himself had looked forward to the days where he would have his own band of friends and could become the legend that Marcus Potter had been.  
  
Not saying any of this aloud, he simply nodded and leaned forward in his seat. Lupin, though looking cautious, stopped reaching for his book and let his curious amber eyes burn freely into Sirius' open handsome face.  
  
Happy with the sudden attention, Sirius seemed to poof up a bit. "You do then. Like causing trouble, I mean."  
  
Lupin's face hardened a bit. "I'm not one for that, no."  
  
"Aw, come on! Don't be a worry goblin," Sirius admonished. "We won't get into lot's of trouble, just play a harmless joke now and again."  
  
James laughed. "I'm in."  
  
"All right!" Sirius reached up for a high five, still smiling. He turned his gaze on Lupin. "How about you?"  
  
"Come on," James urged. "It'll be fun!"  
  
The boy sighed and thought for another moment, before letting a wary smile cross his face. "Okay. I'm in too."  
  
Sirius let out a whoop and James slapped his new friend on the back, brown eyes gleaming devilishly. Lupin scooted back in his seat a bit, warning, "But not too much trouble. I don't think my dad would fancy it if I was expelled in my first year."  
  
"We wouldn't fancy it either," James assured him happily. "We won't do anything too drastic..."  
  
Lupin sighed in relief and then looked toward the door as if hearing something they couldn't. "I think someone's coming," he said in his usual soft voice. Sure enough, an old woman bustled in through the door of the compartment, pushing a tray laden in snacks ahead of her.  
  
"Something off the cart?" she asked them in a bored voice.  
  
Lupin seemed to shrink down further in his seat. "No thanks. I've got...stuff..." He refused to meet Sirius' eye.  
  
The other boy, however, dug deeply in his pockets and pulled out a handful of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Handing them to the wizened woman with a flourish, he began to scoop handfuls of the candy off the cart and onto James and Lupin's laps. Grabbing some for himself, he waved the woman off with another bright grin.  
  
"Dig in," he told them happily, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog and watching it hop in his lap with great amusement until it seemed to lose all energy. He popped it into his mouth and chewed it, making loud smacking sounds of ecstasy.  
  
James wrenched open a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and popped a handful in his mouth. He immeadiatly regretted it and made a face as spinach mixed with carmel, chocolate and tripe.  
  
Sirius, looking up from his Famous Witch Card, burst into hysterical laughter as James whipped out his wand, scraped it over his tongue, and wondered desperatly what good learning to be a wizard would be if he couldn't even remove disgusting tastes from his mouth.  
  
Lupin rolled his eyes as he bit into a rolled slice of ham. Sirius cocked his head at the other boy.  
  
"Why don't you try one of these?" he asked, tossing a Frog at Lupin's face.  
  
The quieter young man shrugged it off. "It's your's. It's not my place to take..."  
  
"Oh, stuff it," Sirius snapped impatiently. "Just try it, I'm not worried. Lord knows my disgusting family is rolling in enough Galleons to pay for that and billions more, so just eat the bloody thing!"  
  
Lupin shrank down in his seat again, but obediently unwrapped the sweet and stuffed it uneasily into his mouth. Then, obviously too afraid of getting another sweet forced down his throat by the somewhat frightening Sirius, dove for his book again and didn't lift his head again until a tall boy wearing a badge and black robes stumbled through the door.  
  
"Robes on," he barked, gripping the door frame to keep from falling on his face. "We're nearing the school."  
  
The younger boys nodded and he turned on his heel and staggered out.  
  
Sirius leapt for his trunk and tugged his black Hogwarts robes out with another cheerful war whoop. "We're almost there mates! Soon our reign of terror will begin!" He gave a mad cackle and Lupin frowned.  
  
"Sirius," he warned, pulling a rather shabby, second-hand set of robes over his head. "We're not doing a lot of damage, okay?"  
  
"Maybe you're not," Sirius shot back, straightening his robes excitedly. "Jamesey and I'll just have to do it ourselves if you decide to cop out on us."  
  
James shrugged into his own robes and smiled at Lupin. "Don't worry. I'm sure that between the two of us, we can keep this joker in line."  
  
Lupin managed another meek smile. "Right."  
  
The train let out a high whistle and jerked to such a sudden stop that the three boys were sent flying into their seats. James bashed his head against the window and Sirius somehow ended up upside down with his head bumping against the floor.  
  
"Ow..." James muttered, gripping his wounded head as he staggered to his feet. "They couldn't have warned us about that?"  
  
"Woulda made it all the less fun," Sirius said optimisticlly, the blood still rushing to his face.  
  
Lupin pressed his face against a window and announced, "Everyone's leaving the train. We'd better go too or we'll end up lost..."  
  
"Worry goblin," Sirius said charismatically, climbing off the bench and heading for the door. "We'd never get lost. Don't you know who the headmaster is here?"  
  
"Of course," Lupin replied frostily. "Albus Dumbledore is the only reason I'm able to come to Hogwarts at all."  
  
"Why?" James asked. "Are you a muggle-born?"  
  
"No." Lupin shook his head hard, as though wishing he had never said that at all.  
  
"Why then?" Sirius demanded, half-way out the door already.  
  
"Never mind." Lupin continued to shake his head from side to side as he pushed past Sirius and slipped out the join the crowds. With confused shrugs, the other two followed him.  
  
A tall, disturbingly hairy man waited for them outside, yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"  
  
He looked down at a small red-headed boy. "Are yeh alrigh'?"  
  
Instead of answering, the boy doubled over a retched. The large man patted his back.  
  
"Ah, well...better get yeh to th' nurse, eh?" he said with a shrug. Then, straightening up, he called in a loud booming voice, "Got all the firs' years? Good, good. Name's Hagrid, for those o' yeh who don' know. Gameskeeper for Hogwarts. I'll be takin' yeh up to th' castle now, so if yeh'll follow me, please..."  
  
He wasn't difficult to follow, James was happy to see as the man led them toward the glistening lake where small wooden boats waited almost patiently.  
  
"Right yeh go, four to a boat now," Hagrid said pleasently. "In yeh go, in yeh go there...got everyone? Good. Off we are, then!"  
  
At his words, the boats began to move at a swift, comfortable pace. Sirius, beside James in a boat, bounced a bit and Lupin, across from them, looked around in wonder at the castle before them.   
  
Soon enough, they had gone the length of the lake and the boats had stopped for them to get out. One boy took so long in leaving, James noted with some sense of glee, that the boat simply tipped and the boy was tossed ashore.  
  
Hagrid led them up to the castle doors and left them there, announcing, "Yeh'll jus' hafta wait here then. Professor McGonagall should be wit' yeh shortly..."  
  
And then he was gone, leaving the mass of students shiftng uncomfortably. Lupin was still looking around and Sirius was still bouncing but James' eyes had fallen on the fuss going on in one corner.  
  
A boy, short, chubby, and blonde-haired, was being tormented by several taller boys, one of whom had long dark hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. As James watched, the dark boy glared at the boy and snarled something that sounded like, "I don't like being followed," before shoving one of the other boys out of his way with his shoulder, making it clear that he wasn't friends with them either.  
  
Those boys didn't seem to care. One of then reached out and flicked the short round boy's nose.  
  
By now, most of the hall had begun to talk in loud, nervous tones. Sirius and Lupin had taken note of the boy's woes and Sirius was urging the others forward with him.   
  
As the tallest of the boys reared back a meaty fist, Sirius tapped him pleasently ont eh shoulder, He whirled around angrily and set his glaring eyes on Sirius, who waved.   
  
"Hi mate," he said in greeting before driving a fist into the bigger boy's mouth.  
  
The brute wailed in pain and glared even more hatefully at the one who had defied him. His friends pounced on Sirius and before James knew it, he was in the fray too, trying to tug one of the boys off Sirius' back. Lupin, too, was fighting, mostly defending himself, and James found himself wondering if the boy would be squashed or if he'd actually manage to continue handling himself.  
  
Before he could wonder too long, the boys were forced apart by invisible hands. Sirius was hoisted off his feet and James was pressed back into a wall. Lupin, who had lowered his fists, merely slid back several inches.  
  
A severe woman wearing a tall black hat and green robes strode forward. "Not fighting, are we?" she asked sternly. They shook their heads mutely and she gave a curt nod. "Good, because if you were, you know that you'd recieve automatic detentions and possible expulsion?" She raised her thin eyebrows as they nodded again. "Good. Now, if I may, I'd like to welcome you all to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
"If you'll follow me, we can get the Sorting underway." 


	2. The Sorting

The Marauders Tale: Year 1  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing, it all belongs to J. K. and her fabulous mind.  
  
Chapter 2-The Sorting  
  
As they followed McGonagall through the winding hall, the students looked uncertainly around themselves. Some of them clearly doubted whether or not they belonged in such a big place and a few even whimpered to anyone who would listen that they wanted to go home.  
  
James wasn't whimpering but his brain was full of doubts. His stomach was wriggling around and he had the sinking sensation that it was going to attempt to escape through his mouth any moment.  
  
Beside him, Lupin was no longer looking around. His amber eyes were focused on his sneakers and he looked almost lost in daydream.  
  
Just ahead of him, Sirius was barely refraining from bouncing on the balls of his feet. His mouth was stretching into a knowing grin and his bright eyes danced over the people surrounding him. He kept glancing back at James and making odd hand gestures, as though playing a silent game of charades that only he knew the rules to. Because James was completely lost, he merely shrugged and offered weak grins, which only made Sirius chuckle softly.  
  
"Something funny, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked sharply after his laughter had risen to a loud cackle.  
  
He froze, shoulders going ram-rod stiff. She nodded to herself.   
  
"I didn't think so."  
  
Now it was Lupin who's smirk was knowing. Sirius scowled even as Lupin whispered, "Can't say you didn't deserve it."  
  
McGonagall stopped walking abruptly and swung around to face them. Sirius' grin returned and he waited for the strict teacher to reprimand Lupin, but she didn't even glance at the now-silent young man. Sirius drooped for a moment until she spoke.  
  
"As we walk through these doors, you will stand single-file until I call your name, at which point you will come to the head of the Great Hall to be sorted," she told them smoothly with the air of someone who had recited a speech too many times to actually be listening to herself speak.  
  
The crowd of eleven year olds before her didn't respond and she turned once again to push the heavy looking oak doors open.   
  
James felt his jaw begin to drop at the sight before him and hastily closed his mouth before anyone other than Sirius could notice. Nearby, the pudgy blonde boy who had been picked on moments earlier wasn't even trying to hide his amazement.  
  
The Great Hall, as McGonagall had called it, was full of people, too many to count. The children were split into four groups, one group seated at each of the four tables. The teachers were at a fifth table, at the head of the room.   
  
McGonagall strode through the overwhelming room as if it were her own kitchen. Meekly, the first years followed her until she stopped before a lone three-legged stool. The first years, curiosity getting the better of them, began to crowd one another once again, trying to see what resided on the stool.  
  
A hat sat there, patched and old-looking. Sirius was so disappointed by this that he leaned back with a derisive snort. James gave a weak grin; this was what he had been afraid of? This was what would place him into a house?  
  
To his surprise, the hat's brim tore open to reveal a mouth. It took in a deep breath and James found himself waiting, absurdly enough, for it to break into song.  
  
Instead, a deep rumbling voice came from the depths of the Sorting Hat.  
  
"I'm sure you'll all be disappointed to hear that I will not be presenting a song this year," it croaked. "Unfortunately, as I was needed for rather a long period of time last year, I had not the time to come up with new lyrics. So I will instead say this: You will face dangers this year and for years to come. I cannot say how or why but you must stand together. If you do not remain united, wizarding kind will fail."  
  
The hat inhaled deeply and Lupin muttered, "Does it even need to breathe?"  
  
It continued, "So. With that out of the way, I suppose the young ones would like their time to place me on their heads and see where they belong? Mm? Yes? Bring them up, then!"  
  
And it fell silent.  
  
Lupin grinned nervously. "Do you think it's always that, er, harsh?"  
  
Sirius poked him between the shoulder blades. "If you think it's harsh, you need to go and look at the real world for a while, Remy. It's just being..."  
  
"A hat?" Lupin asked sarcastically. His fear of Sirius had evaporated and what was left was somewhere between challenging and amiable.  
  
McGonagall unfurled a long list and began to call out names. One by one, the first years walked nervously to the front of the room, sat down, and set the hat on their heads. After varying lengths of time, the hat would yell out whatever house they belonged in.  
  
James was beginning to wonder how exactly the hat knew where they belonged. Perhaps it only guessed. Or maybe, he thought, it was bewitched somehow to be able to get inside their heads. Unnerving as that thought was, he had the feeling it was the right one.  
  
Suddenly, Sirius was striding toward the Sorting Hat, his shoulder brushing James aside. James jumped; he hadn't heard McGonagall call his new friend's name.  
  
Calmer than he had appeared before, Sirius made his way up to the hat and lifted it onto his head. It took only seconds before yelling for the whole Hall to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Grinning more broadly than ever, Sirius wrenched the hat off and jumped down from the stool. He bolted to one of the long tables (the one from which the most screaming was coming) and sat down near the end.  
  
The names kept getting ticked off, and the crowd was getting smaller and smaller. Lupin was called up and the hat immediately (though less immediately than with Sirius) called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Looking quite pleased, Lupin hopped down and strode to the Gryffindor table where he sat quietly next to Sirius.  
  
To James' surprise, the blonde boy whom he had helped save, Peter Pettigrew, also went to Gryiffindor, though the hat took quite a long time to place him there. Sirius bent over to whisper something to Lupin, who shrugged, eyes discreetly following Peter along the Hall.  
  
Then it was James' turn to walk up the aisle with everyone staring at him and put on the hat.  
  
To his surprise, the Sorting Hat was much more talkative than it seemed. From the moment he put it on, it whispered nonstop in his ear.  
  
"Hmm...certain arrogance...interesting, interesting. Might serve him well in Slytherin," it mused. "Then again, the talent for retaining knowledge is definite Ravenclaw material...and the need to help those in need...well, looking in on the incident with the Pettigrew boy says Hufflepuff...You're a tricky one, you know that?"  
  
James jumped as the hat addressed him directly. "Erm...sorry?" he offered weakly, not knowing what else to say in apology to an inanimate object.  
  
If the hat could've shaken it's head, it would have. As it was, it heaved a huge sigh in James' ear.  
  
"It's not your fault, Potter," it griped. "Now...let's see...courage. Plenty of it too....need to take risks....I think, to be safe, we'll just stick you in GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
James jumped and tried not to yell aloud. He whipped the hat off and stepped off the stool to rejoin his friends, trying to ignore the fact that his ears were ringing nicely.  
  
Sirius wacked him painfully on the back, knocking the wind from his lungs for a few seconds as he said, "Well done, James, together for the next seven years!"  
  
Lupin was smirking again. "That's only if you're not expelled. I take extreme pity on the poor teachers who try to reign you in..."  
  
Next to him, Peter had lifted his head and was staring eagerly at the others.  
  
Sirius smiled far too sweetly. "Yes? Can we help you, er..."  
  
"Peter!" the boy said in a high squeaky sort of voice that James found immediately irritating. "Peter Pettigrew. I was wondering if, uh, maybe I could hang out with you guys sometime..."  
  
"Doesn't beat around the bush, does he?" Lupin murmured, sounding slightly annoyed.  
  
"Obviously not..." Sirius' teeth were clenched as though the boy's words (or perhaps his voice) caused him extreme physical pain. He forced a smile back onto his face.  
  
"So? Can I?" Peter demanded, a bit louder than necessary.  
  
"Erm..." Sirius appeared to be at a loss for words for the first time since arriving on the Hogwarts Express, so James leapt in.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" he said cheerily, ignoring the daggers Sirius was sending via his eyeballs.  
  
Peter gave an annoying little cheer. "Yessss! Thanks, thanks so much, you won't regret this friendship!"  
  
"I'll bet," Lupin chuckled through clenched teeth, looking like he wanted for all the world to clock both James and Peter.  
  
"Hey!" Peter squealed. "We should have a team name or something! Something cool that would strike fear into the hearts of others!"  
  
Lupin flinched visibly. "We don't want to--"  
  
"How about the Marauders?" James cut in. "Doesn't quite strike, er, fear, but it isn't easily forgotten, is it?"  
  
"Yeah! The Marauders! Sounds great!" Peter grinned toothily at them all. He looked like he was going to say more, but thankfully was interrupted by Dumbledore, who had just stood up.  
  
"Boys and girls, witches and wizards, ghosts and poltergeists (and at this James noted the silvery figures floating among the students)," Dumbledore rumbled in a voice that seemed unfit for a man of his age. He looked to be around fifty and his once brown hair was quite gray. Only his clear blue eyes betrayed the sense of youth that his appearance lacked.  
  
"I would like to, of course, welcome you either back or for the very first time, to Hogwarts," the headmaster continued. "Starting off, I think I'll actually get the announcements out of the way before we begin our magnificent feast." He beamed around at all of them. "Now, as our caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch, will take care to remind you all, there is to be no magic in the corridors and no student is allowed in the Forbidden Forest for any reason whatsoever. That is all, for now, so, with that out of the way, I suggest we set into this delicious feast."  
  
He clapped his thin hands together and sat. James looked around eagerly, noting the sudden rumbling of his stomach.  
  
Nothing happened. No house elves entered the Hall and certainly no waiters appeared. James blinked, then turned to Sirius. "What--"  
  
But the need to ask the question vanished as James' eyes fell on the table before him. The littering golden plate at his place was suddenly full of food: chicken legs, potatoes, vegetables, even a bit of peppermint. His goblet had been filled to the brim with pumpkin juice by an invisible hand.  
  
Sirius didn't seem at all off-put by the appearance of food. He was stuffing a bit of everything into his mouth with one hand and tugging yet more of the amazing cuisine onto his overflowing plate.  
  
On James' other side, Lupin was eyeing his plate somewhat warily, but eating all the same. Peter wasn't eating at all, preferring instead to stare adoringly at James, who looked quickly in the opposite direction, sure that Peter was going to start a fan club any moment.  
  
Soon enough, the students and teachers were finished and Dumbledore was on his feet again. He waved for quiet before announcing, "As it so often happens, the feast has put us all into a haze of sleep ( James and the others were feeling as though they could doze off at any moment), so I suggest the prefects lead your students to your respective dormitories and you can all rest up for tomorrow's classes. Off you go, then, to bed..."  
  
Obediently, Sirius, Lupin, Peter, and James got up with the rest of the Gryffindors and followed the burly older boy who had told them to dress on the train out of the Great Hall. He led them up and down a number of winding corridors and staircases until they were facing an enormous painting of a fat woman in a pink gown.  
  
She appeared to be waiting for something. The boy said firmly, "Werewolf blood," and she swung forward on her hinges to admit them.  
  
As the Gryffindors scrambled inside to the comforting common room, the prefect boy announced, "That was the password and you'd all do well to remember it as it is your ticket into Gryffindor Tower, understand? Now. Boys up this staircase, girls have that one. Try to refrain from talking, just go straight to sleep."  
  
He didn't smile. Instead, he began herding the boys in one direction, the girls in another. James followed Sirius up the stairs into a room with four four-poster beds. Sirius selected one and bounced onto it after kicking off his shoes, not even bothering to change into his pajamas. Lupin silently took the furthest one over, on Sirius' left side, James took the one on Sirius' right, and Peter (to Sirius' chagrin) hopped into the last one.  
  
"This is exciting, isn't it?" Peter breathed in his high voice. "Just fabulous! I can't wait `till classes tomorrow, won't they be wonderful? I think Defense Against the Dark Arts will be the best, don't you? So fascinating, the creatures we learn about and the curses!"  
  
By this point, James had begun to tune the overexcited boy out. His eyes began to close and he barely registered the light, even sounds of Lupin's breathing and Sirius' snores as he drifted off. 


	3. Enter the Maraudersand Classes

The Marauders Tale: Year 1  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing, it all belongs to J. K. and her fabulous mind. Also...keep reviewing, people!!!  
  
Chapter 3- Enter the Marauders... and Classes  
  
When James woke the next morning, he found the dormitory nearly empty. Only Peter was still asleep, curled up into a small ball at the edge of his bed.   
  
He stood quietly and changed into a fresh set of clothing, including robes, and stealthily headed for the common room. Sirius and Lupin were already down there, amid a few other groups, and they seemed to be deep in conversation, bent over small sheets of parchment.  
  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is first," he heard Lupin mutter as he got nearer. "Then Double Potions with Hufflepuff...I don't know about that, Potions was always my father's worst subject and anything I tried to read on the subject just slipped out of my head."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Brainiac," Sirius told him, cheerful as ever. "What's after that?"  
  
"Herbology, Greenhouse One...then lunch, and a break...Transfiguration's the last class of the day."  
  
"Ah, good. All the best classes for pranks." Sirius stretched leisurely in his seat, stretching his head back so he could see behind himself. "Oh, James. about time you woke up, mate, thought we'd have to drop a load of Dungbombs on your head to wake you for DADA."  
  
"DADA?" James asked, tousling his black locks.  
  
"Yeah. Defense Against the Dark Arts." Sirius grinned. "First class of the day you know, with Professor Becker."  
  
"How's she?" James asked, at a loss as to who most of the teachers even were.  
  
"He," Sirius corrected witheringly. "And he's supposed to be a really good teacher, a little strict, but according to my uncle (well, the one that's actually human enough to talk to), he was a great prankster in his day, really knew his stuff. Should be interesting to talk to."  
  
"Oh." James let his hand drop from his hair as a very pretty girl with long red hair walked across his field of vision. "Who's that?"  
  
"Who now?" Sirius swiveled in his seat. His eyes locked on the girl and he smiled broadly. "Oh, I see. Ickle Jamesy's got himself a wittle crush!"  
  
Lupin looked up with a grin. "Speaking of crushes, I think you'll have some problems shaking that Peter kid off your tail, James. He didn't fall asleep for at least three hours last night, I heard him babbling away about how great you are when I woke up to go to the lavatory. Have you noticed how persistent he is?"  
  
"Unfortunately," James replied, suddenly sullen.  
  
"And how he always talks in either exclamations or questions?" Lupin shook his head ruefully. "Does the boy have a normal tone of voice?"  
  
Sirius broke into giggles. "He's like a little puppy!"  
  
"Yeah." James forced a smile before dragging the subject back to the mystery girl. "But who is she?"  
  
"Woah, won't let it go, will he?" Sirius looked up at his friend. "Love at first sight, is it?"  
  
"No!" James cried, a bit too loudly. He lowered his voice. "I mean, I'm just curious, that's all..."  
  
"Right." Lupin stood up. "Should we go down to the Hall to get a spot of breakfast, then?"  
  
"Yeah," James said quickly, watching as the girl left the common room. "Yeah, I'm hungry."  
  
"And you want to follow your girlfriend." Sirius raised his eyebrows as he too got up from the couch. "And maybe ditch old Petey too, eh?"  
  
"Hungry," James repeated in what he hoped was a bored tone of voice. "When I'm hungry, I eat. Dunno what you do..."  
  
"Cute, Potter, real cute." Smirking, Sirius led the way out of the common room. Just outside the portrait hole, he paused and looked hopelessly from side to side. "Where to now, do you suppose?"  
  
"Follow the crowds," Lupin suggested. "It's early enough that most of them are due for breakfast anyway."  
  
He took his own advice and slipped into the throng. Sirius and James shrugged, then followed him.  
  
Lupin had been right; the large group of students had indeed been headed for the Great Hall. They boys shoved their way in and each grabbed some toast and a handful of bacon before slipping quietly out again...or so they tried.  
  
Unfortunately, Peter chose that precise moment to run right into Lupin and knock him unceremoniously to the ground.  
  
"Ow," Lupin muttered, rubbing his head gingerly in the place where it had slammed into the ground with an angry smacking sound. He glared up at Peter, who couldn't have looked less horror-struck at his mistake. In fact, Lupin found himself thinking angrily, the little snot was probably berating himself for not plowing into James.  
  
"Sorry Remus," Peter said, still looking anything but. "But I thought you lot would like to know that Defense Against the Dark Arts is starting in a few minutes and Professor Becker hates when people show up late...my cousin told me," he added hastily as Sirius opened his mouth to ask how he would know the professor already. "C'mon James," Peter continued, grasping James' arm and tugging him in what the boy could only hope was the direction to the correct classroom. "I know the way."  
  
"Do you now?" Lupin muttered, still rubbing his head as he climbed to his feet.  
  
"Little suck-up," Sirius grumbled. "He better not end up double-crossing us."  
  
Lupin miraculously became sympathetic toward the annoying little punk. "He won't. He wants to be friends, that's all. Probably doesn't have any other ones."  
  
"He keeps getting on my nerves, he won't have these ones either," Sirius said furiously. "I'll make sure of that."  
  
"Maybe we should get to class," Lupin insisted, pulling on the back of Sirius' robes. "We don't want to be late."  
  
"Speak for yourself," Sirius growled, but quickly followed his shorter friend.  
  
They ducked through the door to the DADA classroom just before the professor waved his wand at it and made the door slam shut. Creeping into their seats, Lupin and Sirius looked over at James, who was being pestered once again by Peter. Ignoring the little guy, James was staring dazedly at the red-head from earlier.  
  
Professor Becker tapped his wand several times on his desk and cleared his throat softly. He had dark blond hair, almost brown, and it was tugged into a small ponytail that made him look oddly young and cool. His ice-blue eyes roamed over the first years before him as though sizing up how much trouble they could get into while in his class.  
  
Stopping on Sirius, he allowed a faint, but boyishly eager, smile to cross his 40-something face. "Mr. Black?" he asked. "Related to Johnson Black?"  
  
Sirius nodded, still slumped casually in his chair. "He's my favorite uncle."  
  
Becker said nothing in response, but his smile was far-away.  
  
The red haired girl that had unwittingly become the object of James' affection raised her hand tentatively. "Um, sir? Do we need our books for this lesson?"  
  
The teacher seemed to snap out of a reverie that Lupin was sure related to his old pranking days. "Uh...Miss....Evans. Lily, yes? Yes, books are a necessity today, but starting next lesson, you won't be needing them for much outside of homework...not that I'm promising absolutely no bookwork, of course." He winked and Lily smiled back.  
  
James breathed, "Lily..." as if it were the most perfect name he'd ever heard in his short life. Sirius rolled his eyes.  
  
"Don't keel over now, mate," he grumbled. "It's just a lousy name."  
  
James looked like he was tempted to slug Sirius then and there for saying something bad against Lily Evans, the girl whom he was sure had been made for him. Lupin jabbed the dark-haired boy in the arm with his wand and accidentally set James' sleeve aflame.  
  
James yipped in surprise and Professor Becker glanced over, raising his eyebrows.   
  
"Problems, Mr. Potter?" he asked good-naturedly.  
  
Lupin, blushing furiously at his mistake, muttered something and James' robe sleeve was drenched in water.  
  
James glared at Lupin and Sirus now, fully aware that the class, including Lily, was staring at him. Underneath the anger, however, rested a sort of pride. She's looking at me!  
  
"If you're all quite finished," Becker said loudly, recapturing the attention of his class, "then I'd like to go back to the original purpose of this class."  
  
"Which was?" Sirius muttered. Lupin shot him a look.  
  
"I thought you liked Becker," he murmured softly.  
  
Sirius shrugged. "Gotta keep up an image; if word got out that I liked this teacher, I might be expected to like all of `em."  
  
Lupin frowned. Sirius' logic made absolutely no sense to him, but then again, he'd always taken quickly to school and learning new things. Perhaps Sirius wasn't like that.  
  
Class ended quickly and the boys slipped out into the hall, then looked around in pursuit of their next class. They found it in a dungeon beneath the rest of the school, an area that was dark, dank, and smelled rotten. Peter automatically swooned as though he were ill and, naturally, Sirius mimicked him just for the fun of it.  
  
The professor, McKinnans, was not a lovely man. In fact, he seemed indifferent to the world and when he spoke, it was in a high scratchy voice that killed James' ears and made Peter fall out of his desk when he first heard it.  
  
If the professor was bad, however, the class was terrible. Not half the class had passed when Sirius' potion exploded in his face and gave him large boils on his nose, Lupin's lava stars escaped and lit several Hufflepuff's robes on fire, and Peter knocked over his cauldron, melting the table legs.  
  
By the time the bell rang, at least four students, including poor Sirius, had been sent to the hospital wing. As the rest of the class left the room, James thought he heard McKinnans mutter, "Every year...Good Lord, why do I try to get them to concoct potions on the first day of class every year??"  
  
Herbology, with Professor Jones, was incredibly easy to find and a refreshing change from the horrible dungeons. For one thing, it was in the fresh air. For another, Jones, a thin stick of a woman, didn't give them anything difficult to do.  
  
"It's only the first day," she informed them. "There will plenty of time over the year for you to learn about the different herbs and plants. Today, I just want you to acquaint yourselves with some of the things in this greenhouse. Less dangerous things," she added swiftly as a round boy whose name James hadn't yet caught poked curiously at a plant that looked suspiciously like it had teeth.  
  
James and Peter followed Lupin to the far corner of the greenhouse where a tall, bent plant stood on a shelf.  
  
"What is it?" Peter asked, tugging annoyingly on Lupin's robes.  
  
"I'm not sure." Lupin gently pushed the shorter boy away and looked more closely at the flower. "I haven't really looked at the book for this class in depth yet..."  
  
James wasn't interested. "When do you think Sirius'll be back?" he asked quietly.   
  
Lupin shrugged. "Probably soon. Those boils couldn't have been that intense, could they?"  
  
As if on cue, the door swung open, but it wasn't Sirius entering. Instead, the large shaggy Hagid stepped through, shoulders hunched.   
  
"'ello," he said cheerfully. "Er..Professor? Could I have a word?"  
  
Jones looked up. "Of course, Hagrid. What is it?"  
  
"Got that plant yeh wanted," he told her proudly.  
  
Her face lit up. "Good, good. Set it in Greenhouse Three, please, Hagrid. Against the back wall, if you will."  
  
He nodded. "O'course."  
  
James frowned as Hagrid left, bumping his shoulder on the door-frame as he went. "What's the big secret?"  
  
Lupin shrugged again. "Teacher stuff?"  
  
The bell rang then, signaling the end of class, and the Gryffindors went back up to the castle for lunch.  
  
Sirius didn't reappear until the other Marauders were back in the common room for break, but when he burst through the portrait hole, he was grinning.  
  
"What's up?" James inquired. "You're looking all doofy."  
  
Sirius shook his head and motioned for the others to follow him to their room. When they got up there, he slammed the door shut and said quietly, "Guess what?"  
  
The boys leaned eagerly forward. "What is it?"  
  
Sirius' smile never wavered. "Rumor has it, we got ourselves something really wild at Hogwarts."  
  
James raised his eyebrows. "Which is?"  
  
Sirius lowered his voice dramatically. "A werewolf."  
  
"Wow!" James fairly yelled. Peter squeaked and stumbled back to sit on his bed. Lupin grew stony-faced.  
  
"So?" he asked coldly.  
  
"So??" Sirius looked at the other boy as if he were mad. "So, we could add him to the team if we found out who he was! We could have a blast! He'd be able to help us with all sorts of pranks!!"  
  
"Where did you hear this?" James demanded, cutting Lupin off.   
  
"When I was in the hospital wing I heard Dumbledore talking to Flitwick about one of the students. He was saying stuff about..." Sirius suddenly frowned. "Well, I'm not actually sure about what he said because Madame Pomfrey was spreading some nasty smelling stuff all over my face and I went temporarily deaf from the odor." He made a face. "That was nasty."  
  
"Focus, Sirius," James barked. "The werewolf, who is he?"  
  
"Didn't I just say I have no idea who he is?" Sirius pried his friend's fingers off his robes. "But we can find him."  
  
"How?" Lupin asked, still oddly cold. "Are we going to go around asking everyone if they turn into something mad and hairy once a month?"  
  
"Not a bad idea, Remy," James mused, nodding his head. "Of course, we can't be that obvious; the teachers would notice and silence us. But if we go around, checking to see who disappears the night of the full moon and such, we could find our guy really easily."  
  
Sirius ruffled James' unkempt hair. "Sounds like a plan." He rubbed his hands together. "At the next full moon, we put our plan into action!" 


End file.
